'A shy and naive girl'

Loved ones say goodbye to 18-year-old Ashley MacDonald, who was shot by police after a dispute with her mother.

September 07, 2006|By Purnima Mudnal

Ashley MacDonald was a talented teenager who liked heavy metal music, favored black clothes, and had a lot of friends and a great sense of humor, family and friends said Wednesday at a funeral service for the 18-year-old Huntington Beach woman.

MacDonald's mother Lisa Marie Guy bent down to kiss her one last time before taking her seat. It was half-way through the service while listening to Coldplay's song "Yellow" that Guy broke down, shaking her head several times.

About 75 people attended the somber ceremony for Ashley Anne MacDonald at Dilday Brothers Funeral Directors on Beach Boulevard.

Police shot MacDonald Aug. 25 at Sun View Park near Bella Terra mall after she reportedly lunged at the officers while wielding a knife. She later died at Huntington Beach Hospital. The names of the officers have not been released.

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MacDonald was shot at least a couple of times in the upper body but an autopsy will determine the number, Orange County Sheriff's Department spokesman Jim Amormino said.

MacDonald had left her apartment on Sher Lane "acting strangely," following a fight with her mother, Amormino said. Police officers shot her after asking her repeatedly to drop the knife. MacDonald, instead of dropping the knife, continued advancing toward the officers in a threatening manner when the officers shot her, he said.

Officers had been asked to use "less than lethal force" such as a pepper-ball gun or a bean-bag gun when they confronted MacDonald in the park, he said.

Guy and other friends said she was carrying a pocket- or a carpet-cutter-like knife. Guy had a small slash on her right wrist from the fight with her daughter, Amormino said.

Friends and neighbors on Sher and Amazon streets are outraged about the shooting.

"It was the usual mother-daughter fight, which is completely normal," said Vinka Kilburn, a longtime friend of MacDonald and her mother. "How many police officers does it take to take down an 18-year-old child?"

Maria Cervantes, 18, attended Sunview Elementary school along with MacDonald but lost touch with her in high school. "I knew she had problems but I think we all go through that."

"Police should know where to shoot a person," she added. "They could have hurt her on the leg. You can't walk on one leg."

Guy's friend Gordon Jones agreed.

"They could have chased her around the field instead of shooting her," he said.